AHMEDABAD: Food for VVIPs, not students? A move by Gujarat’s Rajkot district, Jasdan’s administration allegedly sparked outrage on Thursday, as 48 schoolteachers were ordered to serve food at a temple fair instead of teaching students, this in a state already grappling with a massive teacher shortage.
Under fire, the controversial order was swiftly scrapped, but not before exposing the deep cracks in Gujarat’s education priorities.
In a decision that stunned Gujarat’s education community, 48 schoolteachers from Jasdan taluka were allegedly ordered to serve food to VVIPs during the upcoming Shravan month festival at the Ghela Somnath temple in Rajkot district. The order, issued by the Deputy Collector of Jasdan, quickly triggered political and public uproar and was ultimately revoked.
The circular, directed at primary teachers from over 10 local schools, assigned them to manage food arrangements during the religious fair. This controversial duty raised a flurry of questions, especially as Gujarat is already battling an alarming shortage of 12,500 teachers and 700 principals across the state.
Teachers, already burdened with roles beyond classrooms such as handling census duties, election work, and even bizarre tasks like chasing locusts or counting toilets, were now allegedly being pushed into hospitality roles. The move drew sharp criticism from educators and politicians alike, who warned that such diversions were corroding the state’s education system.
Following the backlash, Jasdan's provincial officer withdrew the circular, stating that teachers may still choose to volunteer at the temple fair but not under compulsion.
Education Minister Kuber Dindor admitted the error, clarifying that the Education Department had instructed local authorities to scrap the directive. He maintained that teachers should only be assigned essential national duties like elections or voter list revisions—not temple hospitality.
Minister of State for Education Praful Panseria called the circular "completely inappropriate," stressing that educators must focus on shaping students’ futures, not serving dignitaries. He assured that any future non-academic responsibilities assigned to teachers would require clearance from the Principal Secretary of the Education Department to prevent further dilution of their core duty.
Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi lashed out at the government, calling it a “repeated insult to educators.” He pointed out how teachers in Gujarat have been roped into more than 30 non-teaching roles over the years, from crowd mobilisation for political events to pest control, adding that such misuse was pushing education into "continuous degradation."
Statistical data only amplified the alarm. Gujarat reportedly has 4,600 secondary (Std. 9–10) and 3,800 higher secondary schools. Yet, since the government took over teacher recruitment in 2011, no major improvement has followed, leaving classrooms short of 7,000 secondary and 5,500 higher secondary teachers, along with 700 principals.
While the circular has been officially withdrawn, the controversy has reignited the larger debate around how teachers are routinely pulled away from their primary role, teaching, at the cost of the students they are meant to educate.